The Barry Larkin Experiment

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

We are done to the last three packs - and my scanner is thankful for that if nothing else! If you've missed the action, it's a battle of Box 1 vs. Box 2 (both being Gems of the Game repack boxes that each came with the exact same selection of packs). Currently, Box 1 has a 2 pack and 33 point lead over Box 2.

That pack was basically a complete dud. Only a devastatingly bad pack from Box 2 can keep Box 1's lead from shrinking down to a single pack. Can Box 2 avoid the terrible cards and win this pack?

Box 2:

UH166. Felix Pie (Right off the bat Box 2 is in the hole. -1 for being a Cub)UH184. Yovani Gallardo (You know, I thought there was no way Box 2 could lose this pack. -1 for being a Brewer)UH245. Takashi Saito (At least it's not a negative scoring player. 0 points)UH285. Justin Morneau (I like this card, but not quite enough to make it worth points)UH300. Kason Gabbard (Who? 0 points)ARHR398. Alex Rodriguez - Road to 500 HR #398 Insert (+10 for being an insert but -4 for being a Yankee. Total +6 points.)Total points: -1 - 1 + 0 + 0 + 6 = 4 points.

Box 2 made it interesting but the insert (crappy as it may be) was enough to pull out a narrow victory. The entire Pack Wars has gotten much, much tighter with only two packs remaining!

532. Kris Benson (Didn't I pull one like this before? Once again, I've gotta give Benson and his crazy wife a +1 x2 bonus just for the sheer entertainment that they've provided over the years. +2 points)

Welcome back to another edition of Pack Wars. This time, the battle is the second of the rack packs - an Upper Deck rack pack. As before, I'll consider each of the two panels as individual packs. First up, the top panel.

Definitely NOT a good total for a pack with a guaranteed insert... Too many negatives which means Box 2 has a great chance to make up points (plus gain another pack win). The big question is, can Box 2 do any better?

Sunday, June 28, 2009

For the most part, I've always liked the Fleer Ultra line of cards. When I first opened the Gems of the Game repack box, there were a few packs I was excited to open, one of which was the Fleer Ultra pack. In the pack wars, Box #1 has built a tremendous lead in terms of packs and total points, but I suppose it's never over 'til it's over.

All told, not an overly exciting pack though I was happy to pull the Hamilton card. Can Box 2 do better and slowly close the pack gap?

Box 2:

35. Paul Konerko (0 points)98. Takashi Saito (0 points)103. Francisco Cordero (-1 for being a Brewer, but +5 for being a player I like thanks to Cordero being the current Reds closer. Total points: +4)151. Yadier Molina (Another Cardinal. -1 point)GF-TG: Tom Glavine "Faces of the Game" insert (It's an insert, that's good enough for +10 points even if I never was a big fan of Glavine.)Total points: 0 + 0 + 4 - 1 + 10 = 13 points

Whatdya know? Box 2 produced an insert and the current Reds' closer and took another step toward evening up this pack war. Even so, Box 2 is down a whopping 52 points overall...is there any hope for Box 2 to eliminate that difference? Only time shall tell.

117. Scott Olsen (0 points)149. Corey Patterson (UGH! -5 points.)165. Aaron Rowand (0 points)180. Ian Kinsler (0 points)197. Edwin Encarnacion (Hey, a Red, that makes up for the Patterson debacle. +10 points plus an additional +5 points for being on the list of Reds I really like. Total points +15.)214. Mark Grudzielanek (0 points)276. Justin Maxwell (At first I overlooked this card, but a careful perusal will allow you to see that this was taken while the Nationals new stadium was in the process of being built. That's the type of card that should be in a set called "First Edition." +1 x2 = 2 points.)285. Troy Patten (It's an Astro, that's -1 point)294. Mitch Stetter (Back to back NL Central foes, -1 point)SQ-9. Derek Jeter Starquest common (Well, +7 points for being a blogger favorite, +10 points for being an insert, and then minus 4 points for being a Yankee. Total points 13 points)SQ-23. Alfonson Soriano Starquest common (Hmm, two inserts in one pack. +10 points for that but -1 point for being a Cub. +9 total points.)Total points: 0 - 5 + 0 + 0 +15 + 0 + 2 -1 - 1 + 13 + 9 = 32 points

Seems like a pretty hefty total thanks to the Edwin card and extra insert card. Can Box 2 do better?

On Friday, June 26 the Cincinnati Reds traded outfielder Norris Hopper to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Corky Miller.

For the White Sox, they get rid of a catcher who barely hits his own weight in the minors (hitting .205 this year) and gain an outfielder who has a little speed. For the Reds, well, they gain another catcher which I suppose means they can have three catchers on the roster again like they did all of last year...and we all know how well that turned out.

Seriously, this particular trade makes no sense to me. Corky Miller simply isn't a good backup...or even a backup to a backup. Norris Hopper on the other hand, while not a spectacular player, isn't nearly as useless...and with Willy Taveras currently holding down the leadoff spot for the Reds despite hitting 0.085 since May 15th, I don't believe that Hopper could have been any worse...

Now, perhaps another trade is in the works. If so, there is only one player that makes sense - Ramon Hernandez, the current Reds catcher. Perhaps the Reds are planning to jetison Ramon to some team needing a catcher ( Brewers, Dodgers?) for an outfielder who can actually hit the ball... If so, I'll be satisfied...but I'm certainly not about to hold my breath waiting for such a logical move to be made by Reds' management, that's for sure.

Friday, June 26, 2009

The two boxes produced my first pair of Tristar Hidden Treasures packs that I'd ever opened. Sure, I'd seen the Hidden Treasures boxes in Wal*Mart a couple of years ago, but I was never that desperate to actually buy one...

A quick look at the insertion rates (as printed on the back of the pack):Class of '36 Diamond Ticket: 1 in 1,111,111Autographed Memorabilia Redemption: 1 in 10,000Autographed card or Specialty insert: 1 in 500Star Rookie: 1 in 200Star player: 1 in 1Other: 4 in 1.

So, let's do a little math. You get 5 cards per pack. 4 of which are "other" as per the odds. That leaves one card. Oh look "star players" are inserted 1 per pack. Does that mean that the only way you get a "star rookie" "specialy insert" or any of the other cards is if your pack has an extra card? That's what the numbers suggest. Actually, what the numbers suggest is that you won't pull diddly squat from these packs. Do the numbers lie, let's see.

It's official, Box 2 is on a winning streak and is quickly closing the gap on Box 1! There's only six packs left (though most likely 7 since I'll split the second rack pack into "upper" and "lower" panels like I did before). What will happen, who knows?! Stay tuned.

Time's running out for Box #2 in the epic, first ever Pack Wars on this particular slice of the blogging kingdom. Up next, another one of those Upper Deck packs, this time from the second series of the 2007 set.

Not exactly a pair of great packs, but I do like the cards based on the '89 Upper Deck design. Box 2 pulled a victory by extremely slim margins, a mere two points! Even so, Box 2 is still down 45 points and 3 pack wins... Can the comeback continue or is this the last hurrah for Box 2?